


Remade Again

by FlusteredWriter



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Some Swearing, Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-01-31 14:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21447739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlusteredWriter/pseuds/FlusteredWriter
Summary: In which Bunnyx finds a place for Chat Blanc before his timeline is erased.
Relationships: Chat Blanc / Ladybug
Comments: 12
Kudos: 105





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette watches as the de-akumatized butterfly flies off, waiting as Chat Noir’s form is overcome by the black smoke of the negative energy leaving his body. She waits for her dear friend to return, but when the smoke clears, Chat Blanc still remains.

“What—But I got the akuma!” He watches her breathing quicken as she starts to panic, and he can practically hear her working through the problem, looking for the solution. She braces for him to attack again, but he just stands there, defeated.

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” he practically whispers. “I think it’s been too long…”

“Too long? But… how long were you akumatized?”

“I don’t know. A long time. I lost track. I don’t think I can really go back, m’lady.”

“But—" She’s cut off by another of Bunnyx’s portals opening behind her.

“Ladybug, you did it! Now let’s get you—Oh.” Bunnyx steps out, letting the portal close behind her. “I could have sworn everything was fixed. Why is he just standing there?”

“I got the akuma, but…” She searches for the words. “Can you tell how long it’s all been like this?”

She thinks for a moment, looking around with a faraway look on her face. “Oh.”

“Well?”

“….A long time.”

“I’ll fix it! I think I just need to get back to whatever I did that revealed my identity. Chat Noir?”

He gives her a puzzled look. “When you dropped the gift off in m—" Bunnyx’s frenzied motions to stop catch his eye. Of course, she grabbed this Marinette before Adrien had a chance to confess to her, before it all went wrong. “…in Adrien’s room. It just kind of spilled out from there.”

“Of course, that’s what the eraser is for! I signed my name on the gift. He must have put it together and told someone who told someone else. I’ll just go back and erase my name, then release the miraculous ladybugs. None of this will happen! Bunnyx—"

“Wait!” Chat Blanc grips Ladybug’s wrist hard, too hard, enough to leave a mark, but he’s desperate. “Love, please don’t—"

“Look at what happens! I told you, our identities have to stay a secret, even if that means you don’t get to be with me—"

“That’s not why! I just, I don’t—"

“I’m sorry Kitty, we have to—"

“I don’t want to die!”

Bunnyx and Ladybug stare at him in stunned silence, not having thought about it that way. And why should they? He was the villain of this story, the one they had come to rid the world of, why should they care about his fate?

Tears flow down his cheeks as he completely loses his composure. “I know I fucked up, but please! Marinette, I want our love to exist somewhere, I want to make up for the things I’ve done!” He falls to his knees before her, hugging her waist. “Please, I don’t want to die. I can’t, not without atoning, I can’t die yet.”

Ladybug looks down at the eraser again, hoping her lucky charm will hold the answers. He may be different, broken in a way Chat Noir isn’t, but Chat Blanc is still a version of her dearest friend, and his pleas kill her in a way nothing else could. 

Bunnyx watches her young friend, knowing that to leave Chat Blanc behind would kill her, and that could affect the future in ways no one could predict. Who knows what that would do to her current relationship with Chat Noir, her relationship with her Ladybug mantle, how she choses miraculous holders in the future…. She makes a choice and hopes it doesn’t blow up in her face. Only time will tell, but no one, no one else must know.

“I’ll find a place for him,” she says, shocking the other two. “Somewhere he won’t affect the balance of time, somewhere safe.”

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Ladybug asks, but it’s an obvious farce. “We don’t want any ripples that could ruin the future.”

“I’ll figure something out, Ladybug, but we have to get going.” As if on cue, her earrings beep. Why can’t time ever be on their side? She opens a portal into her burrow, urgency hanging unspoken between them all.

Ladybug helps Chat Blanc up, gently wiping the tears from his face. “Trust Bunnyx; we’ll find a place for you Chat Noir.”

“Chat Blanc,” he insists. “I’m Chat Blanc now, love. Forever.”

“Whatever your name is gonna be, we have to go,” Bunnyx urges. “Now.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chat Blanc watches the portal Marinette disappears through, trying to burn this final image of her in his mind forever, knowing that she will likely never love him again. Well, she’ll probably go on loving Adrien forever, but as long as Chat Noir loves Ladybug, Adrien will be blind to Marinette forever. 

“I’m sorry, Adrien,” Bunnyx says, laying a hand on his shoulder. She raises an eyebrow at his surprised look. “Did you really think I wasn’t going to find out your identities? I had to hunt down the exact moment it all went wrong, which was when you saw Ladybug leaving your bedroom.”

“But if you know, then we haven’t really stopped anything! We have to-“

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Minichat,” she interrupts, holding up a hand. “Ladybug entrusted me with the time miraculous because I can keep a secret. It’s necessary if you don’t want to totally fuck up every timeline. Now, what to do with you…” She wanders around the burrow, pausing every so often to peer into a portal. “I don’t want to dump you too far back, because that would be pretty cruel. But we can’t risk you ever bumping into your friends, or even younger versions of your family… How’s your Russian?”

“Non-existent. Why Russia?”

She shrugs. “White, blonde, green eyes, you’d fit in well. Unless you prefer Germany; you can’t do anything about the Nazis, but you’d be left alone. Though I should probably keep you away from any major wars, just in case…”

“Why don’t you put me in the future?”

“To much tech that recognizes DNA, fingerprints, corneal patterns, too much of a risk you’re found out. By the way, you should probably think of another name, just in case.”  
“Another name?” Just how much of himself is he going to lose?

Bunnyx stops her search, coming up to him again. “Hey, I’m sorry, we don’t have to do this now, I know it’s a lot. We can stay in the burrow as long as we need, we’ll figure something out.”

“I want to know what I have to do, it just… might take me a minute.”

“Well in that case…” She looks nervous, but determined. “I’m gonna have to take your miraculous, Adrien.”

“What?!” He pulls his right hand towards his chest reflexively. “Why, what are you going to do with him?”

“We can’t have two cat miraculouses floating through time, I’m sorry. I’ll take care of him here Adrien, I promise. But he can’t go with you.”

The tears start to well up again. “Why can’t I just stay here? I don’t want to give Plagg up, after everything else.”

“You said you wanted to atone for what you’d done, do you really think you can do that here?” She reaches into a portal and pulls out a miraculous box. “You can take your time, but I think you know I’m right.”

Chat Blanc looks down at his ring; maybe it would have been better to be erased along with the rest of the world, to let himself and his pain become non-existent…

No. Master Fu didn’t choose him to be Chat Noir because he gave up when things were hard, he chose him because he persevered and did the right thing through the hard times. This is the right thing now, even if it was hard, even though it hurt.

“Plagg, claws in,” he said, likely for the last time. There was a sort of release that came with detransforming, and he kept his eyes closed to revel in the feeling until he felt Plagg settle in his cupped hands.

“Plagg?” His kwami looked smaller, somehow, though he knew that wasn’t possible. His small, now white form was still, and for a moment Adrien feared he was dead.

“Adrien?” a small, weak voice called. “You’re okay….”

The tears spill anew as Adrien brings his kwami up to his face, pressing him against his cheek and sinking to his knees. “Plagg, I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault. I’m sorry, about your dad, and Marinette.”

Bunnyx turns away, letting them have this final moment; she can’t imagine the pain she would feel if she were forced to give up Fluff, and these were the worst circumstances imaginable.

“We have to say goodbye, Plagg,” Adrien manages after a while. “I really messed up, and I’m sorry you have to pay the consequences for it. I’m so, so sorry Plagg.”

Surprisingly, the kwami doesn’t argue. “It’s okay, Adrien. You were the best Chat Noir I ever had, it’s an honor for you to be my last.” 

Ultimately it’s Plagg who tugs the miraculous off Adrien’s finger, disappearing into the ring while Adrien cries. Bunnyx gives Adrien a moment longer to mourn before kneeling before him and placing the ring into the miraculous box.

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave him in there forever. But he probably needs lots of time to heal.” She offers him a hand. “Come on Adrien, let’s find you a new home.”

“Émile,” he corrects, wiping the last of his tears away as he rises to his feet. “I know you said I need to keep a low profile, but couldn’t I stay in Paris? It’s my home.”

She thinks about it. “I don’t know, what time were you thinking?”

“Maybe… 1886?”

“That’s oddly specific.”

He shrugs. “I wanna see the World Fair, but I think some time to establish myself would do good, and that’s far back enough I won’t run into anyone.”

“Right. Got a last name to go with that first one? I’m gonna need to get some things set up so I’m not just dumping you there.”

“…..Dupain.”

She frowns, but if she disapproves she doesn’t say so. “Émile Dupain, got it. Back in a tick.”

Émile stands back as Bunnyx walks in and out of various portals, muttering to herself while collecting and disposing items seemingly at random. Finally, she throws a bundle of fabric at him. “Alright kitty, time to go. Get dressed, I’ve got a good cover for you as some distant cousin for a spinster, I’m sure you’ll get along great.”

“Thanks.” Bunnyx turns around to let him get dressed, and he makes quick work of the simple suit. “Am I going empty-handed?”

“Oh yeah, your family died in a fire in the countryside. Lost all your possessions, you’re very sad but you don’t like to talk about it so she shouldn’t bring it up.”

“Oh, okay.” Despite her confidence, he’s starting to doubt the integrity of this plan. Too late to back out now. 

“You ready?” Bunnyx stands by a portal, one that presumably will take him to his new life, holding a hand out to him. With one final deep breath, Émile takes her hand and follows her into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this isn't the most common or easy to follow concept but guys, I'm really not looking for suggestions. I have this fic planned to the end, it's just a question of how many chapters it'll fill out. If you're not enjoying the fic that's fine but please, enough with the comments about what you think I should be doing, it's my fic.


	3. Chapter 3

“Marinette, come  _ on _ ,” Alya urges, dragging her best friend behind her. “You literally can’t mess this up. Give him the macarons, tell him you really need his opinion because everyone else tried them, and they’re tied on what new flavor your dad should use in the bakery. Invite him to coffee. Done!”

“I can totally mess that up! He could hate both flavors, or can’t decide between them, or—"

“Girl, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Alya says, putting a finger to her lips. “Repeat after me: Adrien, would you please help my dad and I choose which new macaron flavor to use in the bakery?”

“But what if he’s busy or—"

“ _ No _ , it’s, ‘Adrien, would you please help my dad and I—‘”

“Okay, I get it!”

“You can do it, girl! When he chooses a flavor, invite him for coffee and the reveal of the new flavor. It’s foolproof!” 

“You’re right!” Marinette says, strengthened with new resolve and her friend’s confidence. “I can do this! It’s just a choice of macaron. Then coffee. Easy-peasy, totally got this.”

“That’s my—" They’re interrupted by a loud explosion, not too far off. “What the—"

Both their phones go off at the same time with an akuma alert. 

“This is it, it’s a sign from the universe that I shouldn’t be with Adrien,” Marinette moans. “I knew this was a bad plan!”

“ _ Marinette _ , akuma? Running to safety??”

Another explosion shakes the ground, as if on cue. “Right, running!” 

The two girls make their way through the streets of Paris, merging with the crowd that the police are directing into emergency shelters. With all the people rushing away from the explosions, it isn’t hard for Marinette to get conveniently separated from her best friend. Paris really has gotten much more efficient with their evacuation system over the past few years, so it doesn’t take long for the streets to empty. Marinette ducks into the first alley she comes across, the ground still shaking every so often.

“Come out, come out wherever you are~ I’ve got a bug to squash and a kitty to catch!” the villain booms.

“That’s our cue. Tikki, spots on!” 

It doesn’t take long to find the villain once Ladybug is suited up and ready to go; giant robots are hard to miss any day, but especially ones as complex as this one. It’s beautiful, in a way, the metal swirls and gears blending together to form a delicate yet deadly female automaton. The fact that she can tell from a rooftop, so far away, means the ensuing battle is going to be far from easy.

“You called for some IT, m’lady?” Chat Noir comes up behind her on the roof, equipped with his usual grin.

“I think you need to update your pun repertoire, Kitty; you’re running out of good ones.”

“So you admit, you think I’m funny?”

“ _ Focus _ , Chat. We’ve got a 20-story robot to deal with.”

He squints in the distance, leaning on his staff. “Is it just me, or does this one look… better than Hawkmoth’s usual villains?”

Ladybug frowns. “I was just thinking that. Maybe he’s getting stronger?”

“Maybe it’s the emotion. What do we do about it?”

“We’ve gotta find a way to get close without—"

“I see you~” the villain calls, aiming an arm cannon in their direction. “Someone call for an exterminator?!” The two superheroes barely jump off the building in time before it’s completely leveled by a bright purple beam. “I will have your miraculous!”

“Woah, this villain isn’t joking around! She singed my tail,” Chat Noir pouts, cradling said tail in his hands.

“We’re gonna need some serious firepower if we want to defeat this villain,” Ladybug replies, grabbing her yo-yo. 

“Perhaps a friend, m’lady?”

“We’ll see, Kitty. Lucky charm!” 

A stuffed unicorn falls from the sky, dropping into her hands. “Princess Twinklepeach?”

Chat Noir laughs, somewhat hysterically. “Got some babysitting to do that I don’t know about? What is that thing?”

“It was my friend’s, but she lost it to—Oh!” She holds the stuffed animal up. “Wait, really?”

“Whatever you’re gonna do Ladybug, do it quick!” The villain steps over buildings, making her way onto their street. “But I’m gonna try my luck first. Cataclysm!”

“Just keep her busy, Chat!” Pulling out her yo-yo again, she slides it open, using its cellphone function to access the official Ladybug Twitter feed (Rena Rouge’s idea, don’t ask). Before she even gets a chance to implement her plan, Chat Noir crashes into the building next to her, thrown by the villain with such force he practically brings the building down around him.

“Chat!” Ladybug rushes to his aid, picking her way through the rubble. “What happened to your cataclysm?”

He grimaces as she helps him to her feet, clutching his side in obvious pain. “It barely did anything, and she just regenerated! This villain is no joke. Did you figure out what the lucky charm is for?”

“I think so, but we’re gonna need a little more time,” she replies. Acting quickly, she pulls him along, running upstairs before she throws her yo-yo, zipping them out of the building. She lands them a few blocks away and pushes Chat Noir into another empty building, pulling up Twitter once more once they’re safely settled inside. 

“Is now really the time for browsing your feed?” 

“This is hardly a social pastime, Chat Noir. Did you know that whatever you put on the internet stays there forever, timestamped and GPS-tagged for anyone to see?”

Chat peers over her shoulder: “’Bunnyx, we need you’? What’s that going to do?”

A portal opens behind them before he even gets a chance to finish his sentence, washing them in pale blue light. A grown Bunnyx pokes her head out, clearly displeased with this turn of events. 

“You know everything you put on the internet stays there forever, right?”

Ladybug grins. “That was the plan, Bunnyx. Glad you were keeping an eye out. Got a solution for us?”

Her frown deepens. “Unfortunately. This villain is no joke Minibug, and you’re gonna need some serious manpower. Believe me, I looked at every other option, and it fails every time; that’s the only reason I’m doing this. You’ve got until midnight, then he’s gotta make like Cinderella and poof, got it?”

“He?” Her confusion is momentary, and Bunnyx’s upset suddenly makes sense as an unexpected companion steps out of the portal. “Chat Blanc!”

“Chat  _ what _ ?” Chat Noir cries, jaw practically on the floor.

“Hello again, love,” he says, smiling gently.

“Love?” Chat Noir protests. “Again??” His exacerbation only increases when Ladybug throws her arms around the newcomer, hugging him tight. “Hey, how come this whitewashed copy gets all the love and I don’t? Who even is this guy!”

“ _ Midnight _ , Minibug,” Bunnyx repeats, pointing a finger in her face. “Not a second later.”

“Of course. Thank you, Bunnyx.”

“Hellooo, am I invisible here?” Chat pouts, tapping his foot impatiently as Bunnyx disappears back into her burrow. “Someone wanna explain what’s going on?”

Chat Blanc grins, seemingly taking delight in Chat Noir’s annoyance, which only makes him more annoyed. “What’s the matter, didn’t anyone ever teach you to share?”

“I see you’re doing well, Blanc, and I would love to catch up, but we’ve got a villain to de-akumatize. Bunnyx give you any idea what you’re supposed to be doing to help us?”

He frowns. “Not sure, something about Chat Noir’s cataclysm not being strong enough.”

“My cataclysm is just fine, you little—"

The ground shakes beneath them, bringing them all back to the matter at hands as the villain rips the roof off above them. 

“I found you~ And look, you have a fun new friend! More for me to  _ crush _ .” 

The trio scatter as she reaches down, blindly rummaging around until Ladybug is in her grasp. The heroine struggles as she’s raised to the villain’s face, frantically looking for a solution. Maybe another lucky charm?

Her face brightens as Chat Blanc lights up in her vision, then the villain, and suddenly it’s all clear. 

“What’re you gonna do now,  _ pest _ ?” the villain growls. “I’m stronger than anyone, even you! Doesn’t matter how many strays you bring in, I’ll be stronger!”

“You haven’t seen all the tricks up my sleeve yet. Chat Blanc!”

“Way ahead of you, love,” Chat Blanc purrs, aiming a cataclysm at the arm of the robot. A blue light slices through the metal, which releases Ladybug from its grip as it crashes to the ground. Chat Blanc makes quick work of the robot’s other arm as Ladybug throws her yo-yo to a nearby building, using the momentum to wrap around the robot’s legs until it tumbles and falls. With the villain successfully disabled and sprawled out on the street, victory feels so close. 

“No!” the villain screeches. “I am the  _ strongest _ You cannot beat me!”

“I think we already have, kiddo,” Chat Blanc says, placing a hand on the robot’s head, decay working its way through the whole machine. The metal melts away, revealing a girl no older than 13 clutching some kind of controller and dressed in an all black unitard. The three of them circle her as she jumps to her feet, sneering at them.

“You seriously think it’s that easy? You’re dumber than you look!” She reaches the hand with the controller out, and pieces of metal fly from all directions, forming a canon around her arm just as intricate as the robot they had just destroyed. “Did you not hear me? I’m the strongest there is!”

Another purple beam erupts from the canon and the heroes scatter, taking turns drawing her attention.

“Keep her busy, boys,” Ladybug calls out, ducking out of the way of another blast. “I just need-“

“A little more time, got it,” Chat Blanc finishes. “We’ll keep her on her toes.”

“Yeah, how hard can keeping a teenager occupied be?” Chat Noir adds, just narrowly missing another blast. 

“I’m not some stupid kid!” the villain roars, charging at them, her attention completely drawn away from Ladybug.

“Lucky charm!” Though her miraculous has gotten more powerful over the past few years, two lucky charms without detransforming is seriously pushing it, so whatever comes out better do the trick. 

…..A bottle of soda. Seriously? 

When she looks at the bottle in her hand, the only other thing that lights up is the controller in the girl’s hand, buried under the tech that makes up her cannon. 

“Of course,” she mutters, more to herself. Chat Noir and Chat Blanc are still keeping the villain busy, but she manages to catch Noir’s attention, and he makes his way over.

She hands him the bottle. “Shake this up, as much as you can. Use a cataclysm if you have to. When you see your chance, spray it all over that controller in her hand. Got it?”

“Anything for you, m’lady.” 

He dashes off, Ladybug close behind, and she takes his place in keeping the villain busy. Chat Blanc has done well on his own, but Ladybug can tell he’s getting tired, and there’s no telling how much longer any of them can last. 

“We need to get rid of the cannon,” she manages to tell him. “Expose the controller; your cataclysm is the only thing powerful enough to destroy her tech.”

“Of course, m’lady,” he grins. “Ready when you are.”

Together, they attack. It’s a dance Ladybug didn’t even know she had memorized until now. It’s perfect, yet effortless. Whenever she needs him, Chat Noir is there, perfectly complementary to her every move. Despite how long this fight has drawn on, they press on with new vigor, the end finally in sight. The girl tires, and though her cannon is as strong as ever, her aim is not as quick. Soon, they overcome her, Chat Blanc finally getting close enough to get the cannon in his grip. The girl shrieks in fury as her canon melts away, but before she even has a chance to reform it, Ladybug is calling for her partner.

“Chat Noir,  _ now _ !” 

He’s over her shoulder in a flash, spraying sugary liquid all over the girl and her controller. It sparks in the girl’s hand, and she throws it away from her with a shocked cry. Before she can fully realize her mistake, Ladybug is retrieving it with her yo-yo, breaking it in her hands to release the akuma. 

“No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!” The girl sinks to her knees as her costume melts away, visibly exhausted. The four of them watch as Ladybug releases the butterfly, then her lucky charm, fixing the extensive damage in a flash of light and ladybugs.

Chat Blanc helps the girl to her feet, and Ladybug hands the now-fixed controller back to her. She sniffles as she accepts it, holding it close to her chest. “I’m really sorry…”

“It’s not your fault; we all experience dark emotions sometimes, it’s Hawkmoth who weaponizes those feelings,” Ladybug assures her. 

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Chat Noir asks. “You made a seriously strong villain, those must have been some strong emotions.”

The girl sniffles again. “I go to this fancy engineering high school, and I’m the youngest person there. And I’m a  _ girl _ ,” she adds with a sneer. “Everyone makes fun of me and the robots I make, that I’m too weak to make anything good.” She sniffles and wipes at her face. “They broke the prosthetic I made…”

Ladybug puts a hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing something amazing, don’t let those bullies get to you.”

“But maybe you should tell an adult,” Chat Blanc adds. “It’s not fair they’re treating you that way.”

“Chat Noir, why don’t you take her back to school,” Ladybug suggests. “I bet they won’t be able to tease you after they see what close friends you and one of Paris’ finest heroes are.”

She seems delighted by the idea, eagerly accepting Chat Noir’s open arms. “I’ll make sure she gets back safe. And you, m’lady?”

Her earrings beep, as if on cue, and the exhaustion of the day’s fight is starting to make itself re-known. “I’ll take her home,” Chat Blanc answers before she gets a chance. “A pleasure working with you, Chat Noir.”

A million questions and protests are caged in Chat Noir’s throat, trying to keep the peace in front of the civilian. “You too. We should talk soon though, Ladybug.”

She all but winces at the ice behind his words; he hates when she keeps secrets from him, but how was she supposed to know Bunnyx could bring Chat Blanc to them? She kept the story of that day to herself more out of sadness than anything.

They bid one last farewell before zipping off in opposite directions. Ladybug only makes it a few blocks before she has to duck into an alley and detransform, catching an exhausted Tikki in her hands as Chat Blanc lands beside her. Tikki stares at the pair in confused awe, but Marinette is far too tired to explain it all now. “Ask me later,” she tells her kwami as she gently places her in her bag to eat and rest. 

“Marinette,” Chat Blanc says, taking her hand. “I still have a few hours before Bunnyx comes to fetch me. Please, let me stay with you, just a while longer?”

“…Okay.” It’s just because she feels bad, she tells herself. Who knows what his new life is like, and it must be terribly lonely starting over. That’s the only way she can excuse pushing their professional boundaries like this. It has absolutely nothing to do with the reverence in his eyes when he looks at her (Marinette, not Ladybug), or how sure he feels when he pulls her to his side and launches them both into the dusky sky to take her home. No, nothing to do with that at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Guys I am so so sorry this took so long. That was definitely not my intention when I started; like I've said, I have the whole fic done and planned out, I just got really stuck on the lucky charm. I don't know how the showrunners come up with so many, so quickly! Plus, this year was absolutely insane (as I'm sure you already know), which put a delay on things. But it's done! And the last two, maybe three (still low-key planning) chapters shouldn't take nearly as long. Thank you for being so patient! I hope you enjoy this chapter -u-

**Author's Note:**

> Listen. I love Chat Blanc too much to just,,,, let him have one episode. This will get finished. Most likely.


End file.
